A new angel: An invitation to honor Bas

Our dear friend, the inimitable Bas whose soul shone through blogland and brightened all of our lives..
He has become an angel of a different kind. I am sure he is putting his limitless charm to new uses.

Please keep blogging, remember your joy when you first found Blogland.

Keep the torch burning and give it new bloggers.

Please remember those in our Blogland family who suffer from illness. They need you.

Please remember my little Lisa.

I love you.

In honor of Bas’ memory and what he meant to all of us, this blog will “go dark” this weekend. There will be no Weekend Writing Warriors, Saturday Spankings, or Seductive Studs and Sirens post.

Instead, please think of Bas–and those closest to him in the Netherlands.

Dear Lisa, Bas’ children, and grandbaby Pixel–

We may never have talked to you or met you, but through the love of Bas we have come to care about you. We hold you in our hearts, we wish you the best…and most of all, we will hold his memory alive.

Bas made all of us better people, and he made this world a better place to be.

Today, I invite you to join me in honoring Bas. I feel sure he would want us to continue in the example he led for us. Maybe it will be a kindly word to a stranger who is having a hard time. Or a helping hand. Or a note of reconciliation to a long-estranged friend or family member.

When we share our love with each other, we honor Bas.

Today, I’m going to meet someone who took care of me at my most vulnerable time of life. I will spend time with her, cherish her, and tell her how important she has been to me.

And never forget that someone like Bas took the time and effort to love someone like me. Like all of us.

Holding hands with you and the entire blog family. We have indeed lost a very special friend who enriched our lives immensely and who will remain in our hearts. I hope you enjoy your visit with your friend and take comfort in it.

Prayers for comfort and healing go to Lisa and family and our blog family.

Ana, this is beautiful. Bas would deny his importance and impact, but he would be honored and love your words about him and to his family.

Everyone in our corner of the blogging world knows Bas held a special place in his heart for you, and you for Bas. I certainly saw the light between the two of you grow as you became good friends. Of course he would take the time and effort to love someone like you, his dear friend.

Bas shared his warmth with so many of us. None of that would have been as special and meaningful without him sharing with us his enormous love for his Lisa and their family. What a great love story – not perfect, but honest and deep.

He was a one-of-a-kind force who, as you wrote, made all of us better people. It was a privilege and honor to know him and to have benefited from his kind wisdom and warm wit. I think you, Ana, know this as well as any of his blog family could know. Your eloquent tribute to Bas bespeaks the esteem you have for him and his family.

I wish I had more than words to offer as balm for your grief. Big hugs and my deepest condolences to you in our shared loss. Enjoy this weekend with another person who is important to you. I’m still praying for your cousin’s baby and family.

Bas had a way of making everyone feel special, understood, and loved. It took me quite some time–and him point-blank telling me (when I thought I was taking up too much of his time) to understand that I was special to him, even amidst his way of treating everyone as special. To this day I don’t know what made him take the plunge, to make that emotional investment. I only know that he gave of himself freely and without asking anything in return.

His love for his family was amazing.

Thank you, Irishey, for remembering Bas and for honoring him. As I told Roz, I want to keep talking about him, keep telling stories. I’m looking forward to PK’s post on Monday. It’s thanks to her that we all got to know Bas, after all.

A very fitting tribute, Ana, for a man who meant so much to so many. I speak not only for myself, but for all the Saturday Spankings readers who may long to express their condolences as well, but don’t wish to intrude. Rest in peace, Bas.

What a beautiful tribute for our friend. He holds a special place in all of our hearts and will be missed greatly. He did have a way of making us all feel special and loved. That is a great gift and he shared it openly and truly. And his stories of him and Lisa reminded me of a real fairytale with happily ever after. I know his love continues for her even now. I send my best wishes to Lisa, family, and all those who love him.

Terpsichore of the dance, thank you for affirming and reminding us who Bas was. The love he and Lisa shared was inspiring. Of course, that love comes with pain. Thank you for your good wishes, and thank you also for the healing energy.

I know how special Bas was to you and to many of us in blogland. Very sad to hear of his passing. Will pray for all those grieving for him and send love and light to those who miss him. *hugs* Such a beautiful tribute.

This is so sad. I’m so sad to be reading this. I’ve only known Bas through lurking and he was always so supportive and honest. I hope his memory lives on in blogland and that his family gets all the support they need in this time. Thinking of you, Ana. A poignant tribute.

What a loss for his family, our community and you and PK. He was a wonderful man and genuine, kind, considerate and honest. He was eager to help, always there to support and made a difference is so many of our lives. He will be missed!!

Oh Ana this is so true. He would want us to honor him by sharing our love, support and honesty with each other. You and many others are so much better at expressing these heartfelt sentiments on the page than I am. Thank you for sharing this with us.
I heartily agree that we should keep talking about him. That will help us find comfort in our sadness.

I didn’t know Bas as well as many, but I did know he was a warm and giving person: that much was plain to see as it shone through in everything he wrote. I’m so very sorry for his family and all his friends. I hope that time and love lessen their pain.

I loved what you wrote here Ana. 🙂 How wonderful that you will meet up with your friend and do something special in Bas’ honor. Your suggestions as to how we might show our love for our friend Bas, by doing something for another is a very good one to think about and do. Thank you. 🙂

Thinking of you at this time. I know that you had a special place in Bas’ heart! Big hugs to you,